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AirAsia Japan
AirAsia Japan was the name of two incarnations of a Japanese low-cost airline, which had operated as a joint venture between the Malaysian AirAsia and Japanese partners.
AirAsia Japan's first incarnation was founded in July 2011, and was based at Tokyo's Narita International Airport until the airline ceased operations during October 2013, rebranding as Vanilla Air. AirAsia Japan's second incarnation was founded in July 2014, with its base of operations at Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. On 5 October 2020, the airline ceased operations due to low passenger demand caused by impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tony Fernandes, the director and chief executive officer (CEO) of AirAsia, dubbed the two incarnations of AirAsia Japan as "Part 1" and "Part 2".
Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia and Japanese network airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced AirAsia Japan as its joint venture at a press conference in Tokyo on 21 July 2011. Its formation was announced only months after ANA had announced the formation of Peach, a low-cost airline based at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, and alongside a concurrent effort by Japan Airlines (JAL) to set up its own low-cost affiliate, which became Jetstar Japan. ANA elected to partner with an existing low-cost airline for efficiency and strategic advantage. Following its formal establishment in August 2011, AirAsia Japan's first flight occurred on 1 August 2012, from Tokyo Narita to Fukuoka Airport.
The airline was headquartered alongside ANA in Tokyo, with its main operating base at Narita International Airport. As the first low-cost airline to be based at Narita, it initially served domestic destinations utilising AirAsia's brand and service model. Future planned international destinations included the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes also indicated that AirAsia Japan's hub at Narita may serve as a connecting point between Southeast Asia and the United States within the AirAsia group network.
In June 2013, AirAsia decided to exit its investment in AirAsia Japan, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of ANA. The Nikkei reported that AirAsia Japan had the lowest load factors between the three new entrant low-cost carriers in Japan (AirAsia Japan, Jetstar Japan, and Peach) and noted several reasons for the failure of the joint venture, including an online booking system that was not fully translated into Japanese (and was therefore frustrating to many domestic customers), failure to utilise travel agent distribution (a major component of domestic airline sales in Japan), the inconvenience of its main hub at Tokyo Narita, and the airport's severe restrictions on early morning and late night flights.
AirAsia Japan announced in August 2013 that it would continue operation under its current branding through 26 October 2013, before the airline's rebranding as Vanilla Air effective 1 November 2013. AirAsia Japan's aircraft would be transferred to Indonesia AirAsia, while Vanilla Air would start operations with two of its own aircraft. Vanilla Air's plans additionally included expansion to ten aircraft by fiscal year 2015, and to serve both domestic and international routes alongside a new, second hub at Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. All of AirAsia Japan's staff were to be inherited by Vanilla Air, and the airline would focus on serving resort destinations, eventually expanding to longer routes after an initial focus on short-haul routes.
AirAsia announced that it would start a new joint venture operation in Japan at a later date with a different partner, but the Nikkei reported that this seemed unlikely given foreign ownership restrictions, and the fact that the only seasoned Japanese airline operators outside of the ANA group consisted of JAL, which had already invested in the Jetstar Japan joint venture, and Skymark Airlines, the involvement of which was unlikely.
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AirAsia Japan
AirAsia Japan was the name of two incarnations of a Japanese low-cost airline, which had operated as a joint venture between the Malaysian AirAsia and Japanese partners.
AirAsia Japan's first incarnation was founded in July 2011, and was based at Tokyo's Narita International Airport until the airline ceased operations during October 2013, rebranding as Vanilla Air. AirAsia Japan's second incarnation was founded in July 2014, with its base of operations at Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. On 5 October 2020, the airline ceased operations due to low passenger demand caused by impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tony Fernandes, the director and chief executive officer (CEO) of AirAsia, dubbed the two incarnations of AirAsia Japan as "Part 1" and "Part 2".
Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia and Japanese network airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced AirAsia Japan as its joint venture at a press conference in Tokyo on 21 July 2011. Its formation was announced only months after ANA had announced the formation of Peach, a low-cost airline based at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, and alongside a concurrent effort by Japan Airlines (JAL) to set up its own low-cost affiliate, which became Jetstar Japan. ANA elected to partner with an existing low-cost airline for efficiency and strategic advantage. Following its formal establishment in August 2011, AirAsia Japan's first flight occurred on 1 August 2012, from Tokyo Narita to Fukuoka Airport.
The airline was headquartered alongside ANA in Tokyo, with its main operating base at Narita International Airport. As the first low-cost airline to be based at Narita, it initially served domestic destinations utilising AirAsia's brand and service model. Future planned international destinations included the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes also indicated that AirAsia Japan's hub at Narita may serve as a connecting point between Southeast Asia and the United States within the AirAsia group network.
In June 2013, AirAsia decided to exit its investment in AirAsia Japan, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of ANA. The Nikkei reported that AirAsia Japan had the lowest load factors between the three new entrant low-cost carriers in Japan (AirAsia Japan, Jetstar Japan, and Peach) and noted several reasons for the failure of the joint venture, including an online booking system that was not fully translated into Japanese (and was therefore frustrating to many domestic customers), failure to utilise travel agent distribution (a major component of domestic airline sales in Japan), the inconvenience of its main hub at Tokyo Narita, and the airport's severe restrictions on early morning and late night flights.
AirAsia Japan announced in August 2013 that it would continue operation under its current branding through 26 October 2013, before the airline's rebranding as Vanilla Air effective 1 November 2013. AirAsia Japan's aircraft would be transferred to Indonesia AirAsia, while Vanilla Air would start operations with two of its own aircraft. Vanilla Air's plans additionally included expansion to ten aircraft by fiscal year 2015, and to serve both domestic and international routes alongside a new, second hub at Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. All of AirAsia Japan's staff were to be inherited by Vanilla Air, and the airline would focus on serving resort destinations, eventually expanding to longer routes after an initial focus on short-haul routes.
AirAsia announced that it would start a new joint venture operation in Japan at a later date with a different partner, but the Nikkei reported that this seemed unlikely given foreign ownership restrictions, and the fact that the only seasoned Japanese airline operators outside of the ANA group consisted of JAL, which had already invested in the Jetstar Japan joint venture, and Skymark Airlines, the involvement of which was unlikely.
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